Newspapers: The Rise and Decline of Modern

Journalism

Chapter 8

“A lifetime champion of women and the poor, Nellie Bly pioneered what was then called detective or stunt journalism. Her work inspired the twentieth-century practice of investigative journalism—from Ida Tarbell’s exposés of oil corporations in the early 1900s to the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting...”

Newspapers Today

Newspapers have historically acted as chroniclers of daily life. Inform and entertain

In the digital age, the industry is losing papers and readers. 2007—Total newspaper ad revenues fell 7%

overall, despite 20% increase in online ad sales. Losses raise big concerns for future of

newspaper’s.

The Evolution of American Newspapers

Colonial papers Benjamin Harris: Publick Occurrences (1690)

Inflammatory by standards of the times Not a newspaper by modern standards Banned by the colony after one issue

John Campbell: the Boston News-Letter (1704) Reported on mundane events that took place in

Europe months earlier James Franklin: the New England Courant (1721)

Stories that interested ordinary readers

Colonial Papers (cont.) Benjamin Franklin: the Pennsylvania Gazette (1729)

Historians rate among the best Run with subsidies from political parties as well as

advertising John Peter Zenger: the New-York Weekly Journal

(1733) Arrested for seditious libel Jury ruled in his favor, as long as stories are true. Decision provided foundation for First Amendment.

By 1765, about thirty newspapers in American colonies

Partisan Press

1784—first daily newspaper Two types: political and commercial Parties shaped press history.

Anti–British rule Political agendas shaped newspapers.

Partisan press forerunner of editorials Commercial press forerunner of the modern business

section Circulation in hundreds, not thousands Readership: the wealthy and educated

Penny Press

1833—Benjamin Day’s New York Sun Local events, scandals, and police reports Blazed the trail for celebrity news Fabricated stories

Human-interest stories Ordinary individuals facing extraordinary

challenges Success spawned wave of penny papers.

Penny Press (cont.)

1835—James Gordon Bennett’s New York Morning Herald Bennett first U.S. press baron World’s largest daily paper at the time Model for Dickens’s Rowdy Journal

Penny papers increased reliance on ad revenue. 1848—formation of the Associated Press (AP)

Wire services around the country

Penny Press Contributions

Developed a system of information distribution Modern technology to mass-produce and cut

costs Wire services

Promoted literacy among the public Middle- and working-class readers could afford

the papers and were attracted to true-crime and human-interest stories.

Empowered the public in government affairs Articles about politics and commerce

Yellow Journalism

Pulitzer and Hearst Brazen Sensational, overly dramatic

Crimes Celebrities Scandals Disaster Intrigue

Provided roots for investigative journalism Exposed corruption in business and government

Pulitzer and the New York World

Hungarian immigrant Bought the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Touted as a “national conscience” 1883—bought the New York World

Pro-immigrant and working class Sensational stories Advice columns and women’s pages Antimonopoly Manufactured events and staged stunts

E.g., Nellie Bly around the world in 72 days Legacy: Gave money to start Columbia U’s graduate

school of journalism and launched the Pulitzer Prizes

Hearst and the New York Journal

Expelled from Harvard

Had taken reins of San Francisco Examiner

Bought the New York Journal with his inheritance Ailing penny paper owned by Joseph Pulitzer’s brother Raided Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World for editors, writers, and

cartoonists

Imitated Pulitzer’s style Pro-immigrant Bold layout Sensational stories Invented interviews, faked pictures, encouraged conflicts

Hearst served as model for Charles Foster Kane.

Competing Models of Print Journalism

Objectivity Ochs and the New York Times, 1896

Distanced itself from yellow journalism Focused on documentation of major events More affluent readership Lowered the price to a penny, so middle class read

as marker for educated and well-informed Inverted-pyramid style

Answer who, what, where, when (sometimes why and how) at top

Less significant details at bottom

Limits of Objectivity

• Can news ever be objective?

• Are facts alone enough?

• What do we need from newspapers?

Interpretive Journalism

More analysis 1920s editor and columnist Walter

Lippmann Ranked press responsibilities

Supply facts for the record Give analysis Advocate plans

1930s: Depression and Nazi threat to global stability helped analysis take root.

Literary Forms of Journalism Literary journalism

Also called “new journalism” Fictional storytelling techniques applied to nonfictional

material 19th century: Mark Twain, Stephen Crane,

Theodore Dreiser 20th century: Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, Joan

Didion, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson• Advocacy journalism

Reporter promotes particular cause or view Precision journalism

Pushes news in the direction of science

Newspapers Undergo Change

USA Today Color Mimics broadcast news in use of brief news

items Online journalism changes the news

landscape. January 1998: The Drudge Report broke

Lewinsky story before Newsweek. Reduced standards for journalistic accuracy?

Newspapers Play Different Roles

Smaller nondaily papers promote social, economic harmony in community. Consensus-oriented journalism: carry stories on

local schools, social events, town government, property crimes, and zoning issues

National and metro dailies practice different style. Conflict-oriented journalism: front-page news

defined as events, issues, or experiences that deviate from social norms

Minority Newspapers

African American Freedom’s Journal (1827–1829), New York’s Amsterdam

News Spanish-language

New York’s El Diario–La Prensa merged with Los Angeles’ La Opinión in 2004.

Vital to marketing and publicity campaigns, growing fast Asian American

The World Journal: serves Chinese immigrants nationwide Native American

Begun with Cherokee Phoenix (1828)

The Underground Press

Inspired by socialists, intellectuals from 1930s, 1940s Dorothy Day, I. F. Stone

Mid to late 1960s saw explosion in alternative newspapers. Worked to challenge mainstream depictions of

news Village Voice: one of the first, most enduring

alternative papers Circulation of 250,000 today

Figure 8.1

Economic Demands vs. Editorial Opportunities

Newshole = 35 to 50% of paper Remaining space devoted to advertising

Newsroom staff Publisher and owner Editors Reporters Photographers Copy editors

Wire services and feature syndicates important sources of material Staff cannot possibly produce enough or cover the

world.

Ownership, Economics, Technology, and Innovation

Decline in readership End of competing newspapers in cities Joint operating agreement (JOA)

Two newspapers keep separate news divisions while merging business and production operations.

In 2007, JOAs were still in place in 10 cities. Newspaper chains

Gannett nation’s largest Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. multinational

What Gannett Owns

Newspapers• 85 daily papers and 900nondaily publications– USA Today– USA Weekend– Asbury Park Press (N.J.)– Detroit Free Press– Rochester Democrat andChronicle (NY)– Arizona Republic (Phoenix)– Cincinnati Enquirer– Courier-Journal(Louisville, Ky.)– Des Moines Register (Iowa)– Honolulu Advertiser– Indianapolis Star– News Journal(Wilmington, Del.)– Tennessean (Nashville)– Army Times PublishingCompany (newspapers)– Newsquest plc (newspaperpublishing, United Kingdom)

– Texas-New MexicoNewspaper Partnership(41%, communitynewspapers)

Television• Captivate Network(advertising-basedtelevision in elevators)• 23 TV stations– KARE-TV (Minneapolis)– KNAZ-TV (Flagstaff, Ariz.)– KSDK-TV (St. Louis)– KTHV-TV (Little Rock, Ark.)– KTVD-TV (Denver)– KUSA-TV (Denver)– KXTV-TV (Sacramento,Calif.)– WATL-TV (Atlanta)– WBIR-TV (Knoxville, Tenn.)– WCSH-TV (Portland, Me.)– WGRZ-TV (Buffalo, N.Y.)– WJXX-TV (Jacksonville)

– WKYC-TV (Cleveland)– WTLV-TV (Jacksonville)– WTSP-TV (Tampa)– WZZM-TV (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Internet• CareerBuilder (40%)• Classified Ventures(24%, online contentpublishing)• Planet Discover• ShopLocal.com (42%)• Topix.net

Magazines and Printing• Clipper Magazine (directmail advertising)• Gannett Healthcare Group(periodical publishing)• Gannett Offset (commercialprinting)

Electronic and Digital Technology

Hundreds of newspapers have developed online versions of their paper product. Online newspapers flexible

Unlimited space Links to related articles Archives Multimedia capabilities Free of charge

“Now, like hundreds of other mid-career journalists who are walking away from media institutions across the country, I’m looking for other ways to tell the stories I care about. At the same time, the world of online news is maturing, looking for depth and context. I think the timing couldn’t be better.”

—Nancy Cleeland, on why she was leaving The Los Angeles Times, posted on The Huffington Post,

2007

Journalists Face Risks Abroad

By mid-2008, more than 125 reporters had died in Iraq.

“The danger is omnipresent for journalists in Iraq. There are few places to take refuge.”

—Joel Campagna, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2006

The Newspapers’ Survival

Can newspapers compete with television and the Internet?

How can print journalism adjust its business model to survive?